- For other places with the same name, see Paddington (disambiguation).
Paddington is a place in the City of Westminster. It is a London district situated 2.2 miles (3.5 km) west north-west of Charing Cross.
Places of note
Important places in Paddington include St Mary's Hospital (and nurse-training centre) and Paddington Green police station (high-security police station). The IRA bombed the telephone box outside the police station one morning in 1991 as a demonstration to the British security services.
The Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal terminates at Paddington Basin (this canal links Manchester and London).
Famous people
Paddington has several famous sons, notably Alexander Fleming — the scientist who discovered Penicillin (a plaque commemorating this is placed outside his laboratory at St Mary's Hospital on Praed Street) — and Alan Turing (mathematician; there is a plaque on the Hotel where he was born: The Colonnade in Warrington Crescent). More recent natives of Paddington include the musicians Seal, Courtney Pine and Elvis Costello, the footballer Les Ferdinand the actresses Emma Thompson and Rhona Mitra.
An early nineteenth century political rhyme comparing the stature of two politicians goes "London is to Paddington as Pitt is to Addington".
Transport
Paddington station
- Main article: Paddington station
It boasts a mainline railway station, Paddington station, with commuter service for the west of London (e.g. Slough, Maidenhead, Reading, Swindon) and mainline service to Oxford, Bristol, Bath, Taunton, Exeter, Plymouth, Cornwall and also South Wales including Cardiff and Swansea. There is also an express rail line to Heathrow Airport.
In Paddington Station there is a display case showing Paddington Bear, a character of children's fiction who, in the book, is first discovered at this station and hence named after it.
Nearest places
Nearest tube stations
See also
The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddington under GFDL
